If the practice tests are any reflection of actual testing material, it would not be impossible to write more complex tests instead of increasing the number of test questions. Not sure speed-of-response (which presumably increasing the # of questions makes more important) is a good proxy for understanding.

I had all of them rewritten and audited, although some used the 2015-6 tests for reference and it's possible they look stylistically similar even if the numbers were changed. Which tests are you thinking of, specifically?

FWIW, Josephine is director of curriculum at WSC and DemiDec - she's overseeing our global round testing right now in addition to running DemiDec. I also do double duty of sorts and will be at KL globals.

With any luck the Hmong would get a mention in the social science packet as a group of people the US recruited to help fight the communists in Vietnam, and then they were allowed to come here as refugees when we didn't get the job done.

one reference!"Although Kennedy used the C .I .A . to arm around nine thousand members of the Hmong ethnic group to fight against North Vietnamese incursions into Laos, in the end he had to secure a shaky peace in the Laotian civil war at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1962"

Soc sci is really thin. So is science; some of the images are pretty... basic MS paint like. (You'll know it when you see it.)

Do you mean the content or the file size and images? Check the art reproductions- they look artifacted. I just read the first three paragraphs of sosci and there's already...a lot of info.

Yeah, I should correct that; thin in the sense of not seeming to be attempting analysis or critical evaluation of what is most important to cover. What I've been through feels like an info dump without narrative / selectivity - so many allusions to various topics. Maybe it'll get better past the introductory parts.

There is in fact an existing acadec discord - found it through reddit - though the demographic is more HS juniors/seniors (+ me). It definitely is more suited to ongoing conversations, though things tend to get dumped in "general" without much filtering for whether it's acadec/non-acadec related.

WSC Houston is happening this Saturday at Ridge Point HS, with our great host Craig Sanders. We're looking for judges to help out with the debates right now, from about 12 to 4 pm - if you're a coach (or student above 16 yo) interested in the program and would maybe like to get a look at it from the inside, we'ld love to have you. Please email me at jac@scholarscup.org and Julie at julie@scholarscup.org, and we'll tell you more.

(You are also welcome as an observer for the bowl thereafter, plus our mini-talent show and awards - no alpaca petting farm, sadly.)

Are there any schools that do both Scholar's Cup and Academic Decathlon? What is that like?

There are a fair few in LA, Houston, and Dallas. I can't speak to it personally but as someone who is involved with both WSC and DemiDec, the ethos of WSC is much more about curiosity + independent learning. The students who do well will probably be ones who are comfortable with intellectual uncertainty, critical thinking, and less structured environments.

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Another way of looking at it: AD asks for the right answer based on the resource guide; WSC asks for the best answer based on the options available.